Chapter 6 - SARAH WAKES
Sarah woke two days after the storm.
I was not there.
She asked for Lily.
Then Owen.
Then Ethan.
Then:
“Nathan?”
The nurse called me after Sarah gave permission.
I drove three hours through cleared mountain roads.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel every time I imagined the room.
What do you say to a sister after seven years of believing a manufactured goodbye?
I’m sorry.
Too small.
I was wrong.
Obvious.
I abandoned you.
Closer.
Sarah looked fragile in the hospital bed.
Bandage around her head.
Bruising along her jaw.
One arm splinted.
Her hair shorter than I remembered.
Older.
Of course.
Seven years had happened to her even if I was not there to see them.
I stopped in the doorway.
Her eyes opened.
Green.
Lily’s eyes.
“Hi, Nate.”
My knees nearly failed.
Nobody called me Nate anymore.
“Hi.”
I stepped closer.
“Can I—”
I did not know how to finish.
Touch you?
Hug you?
Exist beside you?
She gave the smallest nod.
I sat.
We looked at each other.
Then Sarah said:
“You got old.”
I laughed.
One broken sound.
“You too.”
“Asshole.”
“Correct.”
Her eyes filled.
Mine already had.
“I thought you hated me.”
“I thought you hated me.”
That was all it took.
Seven years collapsed into two equally damaged sentences.
I covered my face.
“I’m sorry.”
Sarah looked toward the window.
“You did say not to come back.”
“I know.”
“I believed you for three days.”
My hand dropped.
“What?”
“Then I called.”
I could not breathe.
“Eleven times.”
“Your number?”
“Blocked.”
“I never blocked you.”
“I know now.”
She closed her eyes.
“Marcus showed me messages from you.”
“What messages?”
“Emails.”
My stomach tightened.
“They said I made my choice. You said you wouldn’t fund my mistakes. You said Mom would be ashamed.”
“I never wrote that.”
“I know.”
“When?”
“After I found the copy of the bracelet order.”
“You knew?”
“Not until last year.”
She started crying.
“I spent six years thinking we both did exactly what we threatened.”
May you like
Fear made me cruel.
Marcus made cruelty permanent.
